Out of Flour, one case

Can you substitute Bisquick for flour?

4 options, ranked, with the exact amount

Use thisBest of 4 options

Use Bisquick original

1 cup for every cup of flour

Yes, in quick bakes: use 1 cup of Bisquick for each cup of all-purpose flour, then leave out the recipe's baking powder, baking soda and salt and cut the butter or oil by about 1 tablespoon per cup. Bisquick is flour with leavening, salt, a little sugar and shortening already mixed in. It works in pancakes, muffins, biscuits and cobbler, and it does not work in yeast bread, pie crust or pasta.

Verdict —: Tweak it
The tweak —: Leave out the baking powder, baking soda and salt the recipe lists, and cut the butter or oil by 1 tbsp per cup of Bisquick.
Best for —: pancakes and waffles
Pantry —: Likely in your cupboard

One casethe full flour card

Every option, one card

Ranked

Flour substitutes compared
#	Substitute	Instead of 1 cup flour	Verdict
1	Bisquick originalpancakes and waffles	1 cupTweak it	Tweak it
2	Gluten free Bisquickgluten-free pancakes and waffles	1 cupTweak it	Tweak it
3	Self-rising flourbiscuits and scones	1 cupTweak it	Tweak it
4	Pancake mixmuffins and sweet quick breads	1 cupYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
Not a swap	Bisquick in yeast bread or pie crust	not a swapNot for this	Not for this

What changesWhat changes, option by option4 options

Bisquick original

slightly salty and a touch sweet, with a biscuit flavor

A baking mix of flour, shortening, leavening, salt and a little sugar. Each cup stands in for about 1 cup of flour, 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder, ¼ teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of fat.

Best for: pancakes and waffles, muffins and quick breads, biscuits, dumplings and cobbler topping, dredging chicken or fish before frying
Prep: Leave out the baking powder, baking soda and salt the recipe lists, and cut the butter or oil by 1 tbsp per cup of Bisquick.
Contains: gluten
Where it fails: Yeast bread and pizza dough, pie crust, pasta, and any cookie that should be chewy or crisp: the leavening makes cookies puff up soft and cakey.

If the recipe has more than 1 ½ tsp of baking powder per cup of flour, add back only the difference.

Gluten free Bisquick

mild, slightly sweet, a little gritty next to wheat flour

A rice-flour baking mix with leavening, salt and sugar. It measures like the original in pancakes and muffins, but the results are more tender and crumbly because there is no gluten.

Best for: gluten-free pancakes and waffles, gluten-free muffins, coating for frying
Prep: Leave out the recipe's baking powder, baking soda and salt. Read the label before cutting the fat: the gluten-free mix has been sold without shortening in it.
Suits: gluten-free
Where it fails: Anything that depends on gluten to hold together: yeast bread, rolled pie dough, pasta. It is not a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour for every recipe.

Self-rising flour

the same as plain flour, slightly salty

Flour with baking powder and salt mixed in, and no fat or sugar. It is the cleaner swap when the recipe is savory or when you do not want to change the butter.

Best for: biscuits and scones, pancakes and quick breads, recipes where the fat amount matters
Prep: Leave out 1 ½ tsp baking powder and ¼ tsp salt per cup. Keep the butter or oil as written.
Where it fails: Yeast bread, pie crust and chewy cookies, for the same reason as Bisquick: the leavening is already in it.

Pancake mix

sweeter, with a vanilla or malt note in some brands

Close to Bisquick but usually sweeter, and the just-add-water kind also holds powdered milk or egg. It suits sweet batters only.

Best for: muffins and sweet quick breads, waffles, cobbler topping
Prep: Leave out the baking powder, baking soda and salt, and cut the sugar by about 1 tbsp per cup of mix, then taste the batter.
Where it fails: Savory cooking: gravy, breading for fried chicken, dumplings in stew. The sugar shows and browns fast.

Bisquick in yeast bread or pie crust

Bread dough rises on yeast and gluten, and a pie crust has no leavening at all.

Bisquick brings chemical leavening and soft, low-protein flour to both.

Best for: nothing in this case: use plain flour
Where it fails: Bread comes out dense and biscuit-like with a baking-soda taste. Pie crust puffs, loses its flake and browns unevenly.

Tips for substituting flour

5 tips

For each cup of Bisquick, take out up to 1 ½ tsp baking powder, all of the baking soda, ¼ tsp salt and 1 tbsp butter or oil from the recipe.
Stir a Bisquick batter only until the dry streaks are gone. The leavening starts working when it gets wet, so bake or griddle it right away.
To thicken gravy or a white sauce, Bisquick can go in tablespoon for tablespoon in place of flour. It foams a little as it cooks and adds a faint sweetness, so taste before adding salt.
For frying, dredge in Bisquick the way you would in flour. The coating puffs slightly and browns faster, so keep the oil at 350°F and watch the color.
For cookies, expect a soft, cakey result. If that is not what you want, wait until you have plain flour.

Questions

5 questions

How much Bisquick equals 1 cup of flour?

Use 1 cup of Bisquick for 1 cup of all-purpose flour. That cup already contains about 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder, ¼ teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of fat, so remove those from the recipe.

Can I use Bisquick in place of flour in cookies?

You can, but the cookies change. Use it cup for cup, leave out the baking soda, baking powder and salt, and cut the butter by 1 tablespoon per cup. They bake up puffy and cake-like, not chewy or crisp.

Can I use Bisquick to thicken gravy?

Yes. Use the same amount of Bisquick as the flour called for, cook it in the fat for a minute, then whisk in the liquid. It foams briefly because of the leavening, and the gravy is slightly sweeter and saltier, so season at the end.

Can I use Bisquick to make bread?

Not yeast bread. Bisquick makes quick breads that rise on baking powder, such as beer bread, banana bread and biscuits. A yeast loaf made with it turns out dense and tastes of baking soda.

Can I substitute gluten-free Bisquick for flour?

In pancakes, waffles, muffins and coatings, yes, cup for cup, with the baking powder, baking soda and salt left out. It is a baking mix, not an all-purpose gluten-free flour, so it will not hold a yeast dough or a rolled pie crust together.